Employee Wellness and Health Benefits Fair provides opportunities for all faculty, staff to focus on healthy lifestyles
Faculty and staff who attended the Employee Wellness and Health Benefits Fair in McComas Hall on April 4 had the opportunity to participate in a myriad of free activities and left armed with gifts from various vendors and valuable information about maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
The fair was held from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and more than 40 vendors participated.
Many of the most popular activities included the free blood sugar, cholesterol, diabetes risk, BMI, and blood pressure screenings provided by Carilion Clinic, LewisGale Regional Health System, and Maxim Health Systems.
“The opportunity for all of our employees to take advantage of these free health screenings, regardless of whether they are covered by Virginia Tech’s health benefits package, is one of the many things that makes Virginia Tech a great place to work,” said Hokie Wellness Director Cynthia Rutherford.
At the Hokie Wellness table, participants were encouraged to spin the wheel to win one of several free gifts, including fresh fruit, water bottles, cookbooks, and a George Foreman grill.
Virginia Tech’s Occupational Health and Safety Program provided free vision and hearings tests. Local acupuncturist John Thacker, owner of Blacksburg Acupuncture Clinic, saw a steady stream of participants stop by to watch, and participate in, his demonstrations.
Members of the Virginia Tech Reiki Club took the opportunity to educate faculty and staff about Reiki, a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. The group provided free treatments to interested individuals.
“It was a great opportunity for us to talk to people and let them know what Reiki is and what energy healing is all about,” said Virginia Tech Reiki Club President Venkat Srinivasan of Blacksburg, Va., a doctoral student studying computer science and application in the College of Engineering.
Students from the College of Agriculture and Life Science’s Department of Human, Nutrition, Foods and Exercise provided employees with more information about the free one-on-one nutritional counseling they provide to faculty and staff each semester.
Participants also had the opportunity to talk with representatives from many of the vendors who provide employee benefits at Virginia Tech, including Fidelity, Medco, Minnesota Life, TIAA-CREF, Virginia Retirement System, and Weight Watchers. The opportunity to enjoy a fitness class and take advantage of a free day-pass to work out at McComas Hall was also provided.
Many of those who attended took a moment to stop at the University Relations’ “Invent the Future” photo booth.
The fair, which is held bi-annually and coincides with the start of the open enrollment period, is hosted by Hokie Wellness and is part of the university’s commitment to focus to the physical, emotional, social, and financial well-being of all employees.
Those who were unable to attend will have the opportunity to participate in similar activities both on and off campus in the coming months. More information about those events will be announced as it becomes available.
For more information on the benefits available to employees, visit the Human Resources website.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
